The Federal Court in Manhattan is one step closer to putting away the politician who plagues the headlines with domestic abuse, Albany dysfunction, and overall defiance of Democrat and Republican leaders in New York.

As many expected, Monserrate pled not guilty to mail fraud and conspiracy, both of which carry maximum sentences of 20 years.

Monserrate, who was a City Council member at the time, had allocated $300,000 in taxpayer funds to the nonprofit organization LIBRE, the Latino Initiative for Better Resources, and had directed the group to spend $100,000 on his 2006 state senate campaign, according to the indictment papers.

As New Yorkers head into the mid-term election, they’ll have a lot of corruption on their minds. Corruption’s been the talk for a while now, especially between gubernatorial candidates Republican Carl Paladino and Democrat Anthony Cuomo. Each candidate has pledged to take care of the capital’s corruption, but do New Yorkers have faith in their determination to rid Albany of the Monserrates?